Swapno Bhor and Snehodiya jointly held their first Durga puja this year and judging by the amount of enthusiasm members showed, it was difficult to believe this was for, of and by senior citizens.

“This puja was way more lively than the one in my old Salt Lake neighbourhood,” laughed Sutapa Majumdar, all of 73 and the cultural convenor of this puja. “I was involved at every step, from nadu-making to immersion.”

Swapno Bhor senior citizen’s park was opened in 2015 and Snehodiya, the senior citizens’ home, opened in June this year. “Some of those who have come to Snehodiya have sold off their homes. Where else will they celebrate puja if not here? The wish to hold the puja came from residents and we supported them,” said Debashis Sen, chairman cum managing director of Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco), that has built the home.

Sen is also a member of Swapno Bhor and like others, had contributed the Rs 1,000 subscription for the puja. The ceremony however had no overall budget as many members decided to take the onus of different departments. For instance, Anita Roy Chowdhury sponsored the flowers, Prakash Kumar Dutta the priest and Bhaskar Sardar the idols.

“We had always wanted a puja. Since Swapno Bhor has a library we had considered Saraswati puja but when Debashis Sen broached the idea of our own Durga puja, we were overjoyed,” said Sardar, puja committee secretary. “I had been on the puja committee of my old neighbourhoods in Beleghata and VIP Road so I was happy to start the puja here too.”

The festival began on Panchami but the planning had started from August. “We went to Kumortuli to choose the idol,” said Sardar. “A 75-year-old member, Pratima Sinha, was recovering from surgery at the time, but insisted on coming along. She said it would remind her of her childhood.”

During the puja, members would reach the venue by 8am and start preparing bhog. “Since we started from scratch, there weren’t even any utensils for the gods. Bela Saha Mondal, Mallika Shyam Chowdhury and I got utensils from home and Suparna Dasgupta got a new gas oven she had handy,” said Majumdar. “Earlier, I lived in a joint family in Phoolbagan where we held Durga puja at home. I performed the rituals with as much sincerity here,” said Purabi Basu.

Sanat Chatterjee, Narayan Chandra Sarkar, Jayanta Kumar Pal and Ratindra Kar did most of the legwork. A caterer was appointed to cook lunch for 200 people on Ashtami and 300 on Navami. “My husband, who is 84, and I, had stopped eating out for the last 15 years but the only exception we made was here,” smiled Majumdar, who is also the music teacher of Swapno Bhor’s choir Antara.

For their cultural programme, she led a scripted music show called Esheche Sarat. Urmila Sen, wife of Debashis Sen, recited and Rita Chattopadhyay, a resident of Snehodiya, conducted a show with mantra chanting, Rabindrasangeet and dance. “Since it would be difficult to find dancers among senior citizens, my daughter, granddaughter and students chipped in,” said Chattopadhyay, a Sanskrit professor.

But some members like Sampa Debnath did dance. “I did Rabindranritya, a dance for the goddess and even dhunuchi nach during immersion,” Debnath squealed with the excitement of a child. They have a theme song, written by Swapno bhor administrator Prasanta Maji and composed by Majumdar that they sang during the immersion too.

Most members hardly felt like going pandal-hopping at the cost of missing out on their own puja. On the contrary, they had visitors. “My husband has come to Snehodiya before to check out the facilities but we wanted to attend a community function like this to gauge the vibe among residents,” said Saraswati Pal, a senior citizen from Salt Lake’s AB Block.

Also in the crowd was Kumkum Nandy of Karunamoyee, who has booked a room at Snehodiya but will move in next year. “I was surprised to receive an invitation from them despite not having moved in yet,” said the Japanese language teacher. “I loved the ambience and found my would-be neighbours to be very talented. They instantly made me ‘Kumkum di’ and I look forward to joining them.”